Sweet Puppies and Love
by Melancholing
Summary: Hilbert Black meets N, a man who wants to give out his dog badly. A series of romance drama that involves animal shelters and protecting dogs. AU Isshushipping, side DualRivalshipping. Might change title.


_I don't mean to make N cry, because that's so out of character, but just imagine the Rottweiler as his Zoroark and you'd understand. Inspired by dogs, obviously. I always imagined ways of meeting your future husband and this crossed my mind. I had to pick an OTP to write it on, and you're lucky I chose Isshushipping._

* * *

**Part One**

_Rottweiler_

Who the heck goes door to door asking people to adopt their pets anyway? The most dedicated people, of course.

* * *

It was a beautiful evening that day, Hilbert remembered clear as crystal. He remembered the stranger standing outside of a townhouse door for quite a while, he could tell. He walked the dogs around this same block thrice and he was still there.

The dog paced restlessly behind that person, wanting to run down the sidewalk and cruise around town. But he had a firm grip on his leash, determined on ringing the doorbell and summoning its owner out.

A Border Collie paused to make territory on the third round, and Hilbert had to stop the dogs without tangling their leashes again. Curious, he started to observe the man. He dyed his hair green. It wasn't vibrant or outstanding, but soft like it was his natural color. His dog was a Rottweiler, a huge one even for his own breed. He looks very intimidating, but Hilbert could tell from its restlessness that it's just as fun-loving as the others without any harm from it.

A man finally answered the green-haired man. He didn't look very happy. The owner of the Rottweiler didn't have a chance to even think when the man hollered, all for the world to hear, 'I told you, I cannot accept your dog! My children already have one, and it's troublesome enough! Go find another house to bother! If you come back again, I'm going to call the cops!'

The door slammed in his face, and the man winced. He just stood there for a while, and so did Hilbert. The Rottweiler saw the litter of dogs straying around Hilbert, and started to bark, its voice albeit a little too loud for the quiet neighborhood. Hilbert's dogs started barking back, and the green-haired man turned to see the ruckus.

Hilbert was a little shocked when he saw his face. He wasn't ugly, far from it on the contrary. But he was crying silently, tears just flowing down his cheeks, and he was much older than Hilbert thought him to be. He just walked down the stairs, Rottweiler in tow, while Hilbert whistled at his dogs, and one by one they went silent again.

The man sat down by the foot of the steps, and the Rottweiler sat beside him. He buried his face in his hands, and his shoulders shook violently.

Hilbert checked his watch. He still had time before he had to go back to the shelter to check back to Cheren. He pulled the dogs back, and he walked towards the man.

He didn't move an inch when Hilbert sat beside him. His Rottweiler saw all the new friends he could make, and the dogs started socializing on their own. Hilbert tilted his head, wanting to see his face again, but the man just childishly turned away.

'Hey,' Hilbert said softly. 'I'm Hilbert.'

The man parted his fingers a little, and Hilbert could see his striking green eyes. He turned away again, but he finally took his hands off his face. He was about to wipe himself with his sleeve when Hilbert exclaimed he had tissues.

He fished his jeans pocket and took out a pack of tissues. The man muttered silent thanks as he opened the package and took out a sheet. He made a gesture to return it, but Hilbert pushed it back to him. 'Keep it.'

The man wiped his tears and blew his nose. He inhaled deeply several times, while on his left hand his fingers twitched around the leash.

'You can call me N.' the man finally offered his name. He smiled at Hilbert, which quickened the other's heartbeat. Hilbert unconsciously scratched his shirt, on the part where his heart is. 'Thank you for your…' he lifted the packet of tissues once.

'Are you looking for a home for your dog?' Hilbert asked.

N nodded, his green ponytail bobbing. He was on the verge of tears again, but perhaps it was the presence of another that made him hold them in. He seemed like he didn't want to dwell on the subject. He looked at the dogs Hilbert was walking. There was a Border Collie, a French Bulldog, a rugged Golden Retriever and a Dalmatian. N could only identify the Dalmatian as a female, the others faced away from him. 'You earning money?' he asked.

'Well, yes and no.' Hilbert chuckled. 'My friends needed help, and I wanted to feel productive in my free time. Bianca says I have a gift for training animals.' Hilbert explained. He wanted to ask why was N so desperate on giving his dog away, but he knows the feeling of being pressed on in a topic oneself highly wants to avoid. So instead he just stood up with his dogs in tow. 'Come on, I'll show you our shelter.'

N suddenly smiled despite his worn eyes. 'Really?'

Hilbert smiled back. The man was adorable. 'You must like animals.'

However, his smile disappeared as N stood up. He was like his Rottweiler, extremely tall and a little intimidating from a distance. Hilbert suddenly felt a little too conscious of his own height, which was already dwarfed by most of the boys in high school. If N was compared to them, he'd literally stand out in the crowd.

N saw Hilbert's expression, and he frowned a little sadly.

Hilbert quickly changed his face back to neutral. 'No, I didn't mean- You don't look that way, please don't look like that.' They both know Hilbert implied the word scary and intimidating, but N just shrugged it off and walked ahead. Hilbert could still tell it stung him inside.

'Um, N? The shelter's the other way.' Hilbert corrected.

'I, uh,' N didn't even turn back to face him. 'I think I'll just go back for the day, my dog needs to eat.'

Hilbert wanted to stop him, but he didn't trust himself with words, especially with a man he just met by chance. The Rottweiler whined in confusion, and looked back and forth at the two men. N tugged at his leash, and the dog quickly ran up to his owner's side and walked the same pace with him.

After he turned round the corner, Hilbert started to curse. 'That was so stupid of me! No wonder I have no friends!' he was tempted to headbutt himself into a tree, but that would just make the dogs go into a barking frenzy. Hilbert could picture the questions and exclaims they would throw at him. _Dude, what are you doing? Tree! Tree! Head and tree! Master, master, stop hurting the tree! That's my territory, master, I suggest you back off._

He's been known for his wild imagination on animals. So Cheren claims.

The animal shelter was just down the street, which was a store at the end of the row, gifted with a view of the sea and a little bit of Castelia City if you squinted. There were ferries that could bring one there, but their schedules depend on the seasons in Driftveil City.

Hilbert opened the door with his free hand, and the dogs rushed into the store happily. He quickly closed the door before he was dragged to the kennels by his buddies. Unlike most stores, each kennel was big enough for the dog to run around in, which didn't make much for quality. After discussion months ago, Cheren lets the dogs run in the open space an hour before business hours, which was a little chaotic, but Hilbert had his ways.

The kennels were wooden structure in shapes of backyard fences, with photos of memories framed on the cream walls. Hilbert filled bowls of water and dog food for his four guests, and dragged an office chair into the kennels so he could sit and observe the little rascals.

There was a photo of four children together in the sandbox, and one of them had a plastic shovel in his mouth. That would be Hilbert himself. Beside him was a girl with similar features. The pale skin, the soft, brown hair, the air of happiness they give. That was his older sister, Hilda. They used to look like twins, but the funny fact was that she was almost five years older than him.

And that was the only picture of her in the animal shelter. The rest of them only consisted of the remaining three of them. Cheren and Bianca watching Pokemon, Cheren and Hilbert battling Pokemon on Wi-Fi, Cheren and Bianca tricked by Hilbert to kiss under the mistletoe on Christmas, Cheren and Bianca hitting Hilbert after tricking them, Cheren, Bianca and Hilbert on a middle school graduation trip to Iccirus City, Cheren, Bianca and Hilbert on the first day of high school. It made sense though, seeing they belong in a different age group, at least according to his sister's eyes.

'Hilbert?' A voice called from the stairs. 'You seem later than usual.'

'Hey Cheren.' Hilbert greeted back as his best friend came down to look at the dogs with him. 'I ran into someone. We talked.' It was the truth.

Cheren raised an eyebrow at him. 'You? Socialize? Well, finally, some progress.'

Hilbert gave him a soft punch in the shoulder as they both chuckled. 'It was just some guy trying to adopt his Rottweiler to someone.'

'Rottweiler? That's gonna be hard. Why didn't you offer the shelter?'

'Well…' Hilbert shrugged. _It just seemed really attached to him. _But he didn't say it. And with Cheren, he didn't need to anyway. 'Anyway. How's Bianca?'

Bianca's parents originally ran the shelter, but seeing the children getting along so well with all the pets in the store, they offered a part-time job for the trio. They've been part of the staff ever since. Their house was just upstairs, and sometimes the boys would stay over for dinner. 'Bianca's out walking her dogs.'

'Did you walk yours?'

'Yeah.'

'Why aren't you with her?'

Cheren was silent.

'Okay, what happened?'

'Nothing, that's the whole point!' Cheren exploded, which was dangerous. He was always calm and collected. 'She won't talk to me unless necessary, not even in school, and her parents refuse to tell me anything, and it's really frustrating!' he groaned.

'You sure?'

Cheren glared.

'Okay, okay, I believe you. Sorry.' Hilbert raised both hands. The Border Collie licked his toes, and Hilbert looked down to see Billie have his bowl in his mouth for seconds. Hilbert picked the bowl up and headed back out to the counter, while Cheren followed and continued to rant. 'I really have this urge to just corner her and force her to talk, but that would just end up scaring her, wouldn't it?'

'Yes it would.' Hilbert took the ladle and filled only half the bowl, otherwise the Border Collie would get overweight soon. He was already big-boned. 'Look, you could just take her out and talk.'

'You think I haven't tried? She refused me.' Cheren's voice croaked. Hilbert looked up from the counter. The man before him looked as stiff as a stone. He may look strong, but Hilbert knew better. His eyes, in his eyes, he could see that he was crying waterfalls' worth.

It was strange. They were intimate with each other for quite a while now, and although neither of them made an official move, they seemed sweet together. Hilbert couldn't think of why Bianca would distance herself from him either.

'You love her.' It was a fact everyone knew.

Cheren smiled and nodded.

The bell by the door jingled, and in came Bianca with two Terriers and a Labrador crossbreed. She saw Cheren, and forced herself to look away. 'Hey guys.' She said, and Hilbert almost couldn't hear it. With her head bowed down, she led the dogs to their kennels.

'Well, I leave it to you to patch things up with her. I need to go home early today.' Hilbert nudged Billie's food bowl to him. 'Patch things up, and feed my Billie. Don't give him thirds.'

'What's the rush?' Cheren took the bowl.

Hilbert chuckled as he picked his coat and bag from the rack by the counter. 'Hilda's bringing someone home today. As a brother I have a job to embarrass her.' he wiggled his fingers to make his point across, and Cheren smiled.

'Yeah, keep smiling like that!' Hilbert opened the door and rushed out of the store. The puppies by the display window looked after him curiously. Cheren could still hear him as he left his sight. 'Wish us luck!'


End file.
